Ford Explorer: Electrical Smoke

George.. that smoke has left your steering column is an indication that
something was in better shape than it is now. Without knowing what has been
affected, it's just a crap shoot - the next time the smoke comes, you just
might wind up looking for something new to drive...... or worse. At the very
least, waiting for the fire department to come would rate as a real
inconvenience in my daily schedule.

Good suggestion would be to get it checked ASAP.... best suggestion would be
to disconnect the battery and have it checked before driving.

In the last month or so, I had a customer from my previous employ call me
about his daughters 2000 Chev K1500.... every time it rained and she drove
through a puddle, the starter would engage and self destruct. Six starters
later, they decide to investigate.... I think I found the orignal spot where
the wires chaffed through. I finally pry the story out of him...... there
was an intermittent minor electrical problem and they felt is was of minor
consequence. By pushing the envelope, they now have spent over $1000 on
rebuilt starters and are looking at a $1500 wiring harness (rough guess,
another 6 hours or so to install the harness).

Good luck, whatever your decision...


--
Jim Warman
net


"George Evans" <net> wrote in message
news:kbhmb.101127$.. 
the 
still 

My 2000 Explorer did that about 2 months ago. While stepping on the
brake and putting the left blinker on it would 'stick' and smoke would
come out around the 4-way flasher button, even when I turned the
blinker off. The only way I could stop it was to take my foot off of
the brake.

I took it to the dealership for some other work and got them to check
it out. They took the multi-function switch apart and said that they
could smell the burnt smell, but nothing looked burned. They replaced
the switch anyway. I think it was $20 or $30 (CDN).



On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 17:53:23 -0400, "George Evans" <net>
wrote:
 



--
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On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 17:53:23 -0400, "George Evans" <net>
wrote:
 
I'm tempted to say that, since some smoke escaped, the electrical
system is now running at reduced pressure, and won't light the lights
to full brightness anymore, but I'm afraid that might be taken as an
attack... :-)

However, the smoke is definitely a sign that something went wrong. You
obviously have a wiring problem. These things *never* heal themselves,
and have a nasty habit of recurring at the wrong time.
Wiring problems, especially those that don't happen all the time, or
even at predictable times, can be costly/time consuming to find. :-(
But not fixing them can be even more costly (think stranded, at night,
without any means of communication).

Pewrsonally, I'd have it looked at, and fixed.

>But not fixing them can be even more costly (think stranded, at night, 

A friend of mine had this happen on his 2000. The ford dealer looked at it and
could find nothing! So now he just has to wait for something to burn up.